Tracked vehicles have tracks comprised of individual track units linked together in a continuous loop. Road wheels roll upon the track units as the track units engage the ground. The road wheels are aligned with the track by center guides projecting from the track units into a track guide channel space between the side surfaces of the road wheels. Wear rings are affixed to the side surfaces of the tracked vehicle road wheels in the track guide channel groove and interface with the track guide. The wear ring prevents abrasion of the road wheel.
Wear rings extend the life of road wheels, but the wear rings need replacement due to the abrasion. In order to replace current wear rings the tracked vehicle road wheel must be removed. The removal of the road wheel raises the maintenance costs of operating tracked vehicles and decreases the tracked vehicle's readiness. To lower the number of times a tracked vehicle road wheel needs to be removed, heavier and thicker wear rings have been used. Heavier mass wear rings added to the tracked vehicle increases the operating costs of the tracked vehicles.
Among the references considered before filing this application are: U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,675 B1 to Simula et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,074 to Seksaria et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,299 to Korpi.